Monday, August 27, 2012

(or, How I Went From Aspiring Author to NYT Bestselling Author in only 5
Months)

It still blows my mind that I can add that title after my
name. A little over a month ago I couldn’t even claim to be a published author, much less a
bestselling one. I went from being aspiring, to contracted, to published, to
bestselling all in a matter of less than six months. I did it without an agent,
without a traditional publisher, and without prior writing experience…and if
you’re an aspiring author, I believe you can, too.

This is my story.

Starting Clueless

When I say I had no prior writing experience, I mean that
before I started my journey to publication I’d never tried my hand at fiction
writing other than the short story assignments in school. English had been my
favorite class and I enjoyed writing the stories, but it never entered my mind
to go to college for writing. Writing novels and getting them published is what
“other people” did. Other people who were meant to do big things and be a part
of that big opportunity stadium that someone like me can only hope to tailgate
in the parking lot without getting thrown out for not even having a parking
permit. Even when I started writing, it was only meant to be a hobby; another
way of immersing myself into a story other than reading. But the more I wrote
for fun, the more I started to wonder if I could get published. And so began
the journey.

Since I had no formal training I made myself a sponge and
researched every article I could find on Google about writing good fiction and
how to get published. I signed up for newsletters and RSS feeds for writing
advice blogs so I’d get the latest advice sent right to my inbox. I started my
own blog and met other aspiring authors with blogs and we traded snippets and regular
support. I joined online writing groups and learned all the proper writing
vernacular and acronyms like MS (manuscript), WC (word count), CP (critique
partner), POV (point of view), and WIP (work in progress). I tried out several
CPs until I found just the right ones with strengths in the areas I was weak
and learned how to write better with every swap of our MSS (manuscripts). I
networked my butt off and made every connection I possibly could. I researched
literary agents and how to query them properly. And I did all of that while writing my first book.

Ready to Submit…Sort Of

Three years, six CPs, fourteen major rewrites, and hundreds
of smaller revisions later, I finally had a product I felt was ready to be
queried. I actually started querying a little earlier than I should have (I was
a bit of an Eager Beaver), meaning my query letter wasn’t the best it could be,
nor was my manuscript. According to my data (I used QueryTracker.net to keep
track of everything) I queried approximately 30 literary agents between May and
August of 2011. Some requested additional pages, some requested partials, but
in the end, they all rejected my manuscript. Based on the feedback I received,
I took the next three months to tweak things and polish it all up. Again. Then I
started querying again in January of 2012 with a hook-tastic query letter and
shiny manuscript.

While waiting to hear back from several agents, one of whom
had requested a full and shown great interest in my book, I started to hear
buzz through the author grapevine about Entangled Publishing, a new boutique
publisher that accepted submissions from unagented writers. Remember when I
said I networked my butt off? Well, it paid off in several instances, but never
more than this particular one. Along the way I’d made friends with paranormal
romance author, Dawn McClure, who also heads up the Savvy Author newsletters.
(Savvy Authors is a fantastic website run by writers for writers. It’s a veritable font of writerly information. Get
thee to the site straight away.) Early last year she’d mentioned in passing
conversation that her best friend was starting up her own publishing house.

Then
early this year I asked her if she’d
heard of this new publishing house called Entangled that everyone was talking
about, which is when she informed me that that
was the company her best friend had opened. It really can be a small world
sometimes, and the more people you know, the smaller it gets.

After weighing the pros and cons of submitting my manuscript
to Entangled versus holding out for the possibility of selling to New York with
a literary agent—which incidentally also brought about a list of pros and cons
concerning what a traditional publisher could offer me versus a more intimate
publisher—I decided to go for it and submitted directly to Liz Pelletier, founder
and senior editor.

The “Call”

Before Liz was a third of the way through my ms she sent me
a Direct Message on Twitter telling me how much she loved it and wanted to know
who else she had to beat out in order to acquire it! After I picked my jaw off
the floor and stopped running around my bedroom like a crazed lunatic, I DMed
her something semi-coherent and we continued to discuss for some time about the
book, the trilogy it was a part of, and when we could speak on the phone. By
the end of our stream of 140-character messages, I knew Entangled planned to
contract me for my entire paranormal romance trilogy for digital and mass trade
paperback release, and on March 7th I signed on the dotted line and
became a contracted author.

New Project & New
Heights

Since my Prophecy of Souls trilogy isn’t set to release
until Summer 2013, Liz suggested I write a category romance for one of their
digital lines to release this summer. I admit I wasn’t even sure what a category
romance was, nor had I ever heard the word “trope” before, but Liz was great
about encouraging me and answering any questions I had.

I wrote Seducing
Cinderella in two months—which was mind-blowing to me, considering I’d
spent three years on my first book—and it launched the Brazen line July 20th,
marking that one of the happiest days of my life.

News of SC and its great reviews spread quickly throughout
the romance world and in only seven days it reached the #9 spot on Barnes &
Noble. The week after that it broke the Top 100 on Amazon and made it onto the
extended USA TODAY Bestseller list at #113. Over the course of its third week
it climbed to #13 for Kindle books overall on Amazon, #1 for Kindle Romance
Series, #60 on USA TODAY, and—shockingly—the extended NY Times Bestseller list
at #27!

My new cover w/the NYT title above my name!

To say that I was blown away by SC’s success every time I
turned around is the understatement of the century.

And then this past week I
received the craziest news yet: not only did Seducing Cinderella jump up on the USA TODAY* list to #33, but it
also shot up to #9 (e-books) and #14 (combined) on the NYT** list!

I was fortunate enough to be on the phone with Liz when I
received the email from my one of my publicists with that news. There was a lot
of screaming and “Oh my Gods!” for a good ten minutes and then sporadically
throughout the rest of our call.

Dare to Dream & Bring
Others Along

This might sound strange, but I prefer to say I’m the “author
of the NY Times Bestselling novel, Seducing
Cinderella” instead of the other way around as you see it on the nametag up
there. Sure, I’m the one who wrote the book, but there are so many others who
had a hand in the final product and those who work hard to get it into the
hands of readers. People like my editor, the cover designer, blurb writer,
copyeditor, and my publicists. Without their expertise, my book wouldn’t be where
it is today. I know that for a fact. And before that I have my CPs to thank for
helping me write tighter, better stories.

The last month has been a surreal whirlwind of dreams come
true for me, and if people can be believed, this is only the beginning, and I’m
excited to see what the future holds. I know it’s cliché to say, “If it can
happen to me, it can happen to you,” so I won’t push that down your throat. But
if you come away with anything from my story, let it be this: learn everything you can, and immerse
yourself in the world of writers. I don’t think there’s any other industry
in the world where people who are technically your competition are as
supportive as your own mother and will do what they can to help you and lift
you up. Take advantage of that, and in turn, pay it forward whenever you can.

None of us reaches our dreams on our own. It truly does take
a village to raise a book—even an author—and I’m so incredibly grateful for
mine.

Ciao, bellas!

* The NYT list for ebooks is 1-25, with the extended list going through 35. The combined (print and ebooks together) list is 1-15, with the extended list going through 35.

**The USA TODAY list is 1-100, with the extended list going through 150. You cannot legitimately print that you're a NYT or USA TODAY bestselling author if you remain in either of the extended lists.